The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor structure and a resulting semiconductor structure that is formed by the method. More particularly, the present disclosure provides a method of manufacturing a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate including a semiconductor oxide layer having features buried between two semiconductor materials.
A semiconductor substrate of a semiconductor chip or semiconductor device may be a semiconductor-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. In some instances, an SOI substrate includes an insulating layer, such as a semiconductor oxide, grown on a conventional semiconductor wafer, followed by growing a semiconductor body to sandwich the insulating layer between two semiconductor materials. The insulating layer may typically be composed of silicon oxide, and the semiconductor wafer and semiconductor body may both be comprised of silicon. In a typical SOI substrate, the insulating layer that is located between the two semiconductor materials has a planar first surface and an opposing planar second surface.
An SOI substrate may also be formed by utilizing a technique such as, for example, SIMOX (Separation by Implanted Oxygen). In a typical SIMOX process, oxygen ions are implanted into a bulk semiconductor wafer. In yet another method of forming an SOI substrate, a layer transfer method, which may include at least one wafer bonding step, can be used.
In the semiconductor industry, research indicates that the conduction speed of an SOI substrate is faster than a conventional bulk semiconductor substrate. A semiconductor device formed on an SOI substrate is preferable in the industry for applications requiring high breakdown voltage. For these and other reasons, SOI devices are sought after in the industry.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a semiconductor-on-insulator substrate which is less susceptible to unwanted exposure and damage during semiconductor processing. Similarly, a method of semiconductor manufacturing is needed to provide the semiconductor-on-insulator substrate described above.